Truck or cage for raising or lowering material



y 1944. E. LAPOINTE ETAL 2,354,525

TRUCK OR CAGE FOR RAISING OR LOWERING MATERIAL Filed Sept. 1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l IHVEHTDRfi Edmond Lapo'm're Arthur Edwin Zimmerman Arthur [\mer Zimmerman by Attys mm an N T A l l I N i W 1 y 25, 1944- E. LAPOINTE .ET AL 2,354,525

TRUCK OR CAGE FOR RAISING OR LOWERING.MATERIAL 7 Filed Sept. 1, 1945' r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTDRE: Edmond Lupoinie Arthur Edwm Zimmerman ,ArThur ElmerZimmerman Patented July 25, 1944 TRUCK OR CAGE FOR RAISING'OR LOWERIN G MATERIAL Edmond Lapointe and Arthur Edwin Zimmerman, Noranda, Quebec, and Arthur Elmer ZimmermamNormetal, Quebec, Canada 7 Application September 1, 1943, SerialNo. 500,810 16 Claims; (Cl. 214-119) This invention relates to trucks or cages for raising or lowering material, and in particular trucks or cages for transferring mine timbers underground. I v

The invention will be illustrated directly in relation to the transfer of mine timbers underground. I

In order to transfer mine timbers underground, relatively difiicult and complicated operations are necessary. This involves transporting timbers to the shaft and loading them from the vehicle into the mine shaft cage, lowering them to the level required, then removing them from the cage and loading them on a further transporting vehicle. This requires transfer of the timbers quite a number of timesand consequently a complicated series of operations: results which involves considerable time and labor.

These disadvantages can be readily overcome and it is, therefore, an object of the presentinvention to provide a means for raising or lowering materials in shafts or the like through which one loading and one unloading operation only is required at the source for the material and substantially at its finaldestination. 1

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple type of means through Whicha reduction in the number of operations is. required.

A still further object of the inventionis-to provide a truck or cage which will travel on the level fully loaded, maybe transferred to a shaft and raised or lowered therein, and maybe trans ferred to a. given level and moved on the level to which it is transferred without involving loading, unloading and reloading.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be readily loaded and unloaded.

With these and other objects in view, the invention generally comprises a means for raising and lowering material in shafts. employing a truck having a body normally disposed parallel to the level upon which it travels and designed to receive material, the truck having a pilot wheel at one end spaced upwardly away from said level and engageable. with said level when said truck is raised by its opposite end and disposed at an angle to said level, and. a means designed to con nect said truck with a lifting and lowering device, to raise and lower said truck in a shaft disposed at an angle to'the level for normal travel of the truck, the. pilot wheel forming a means for facilitating transfer of the truck to raising and lowering position from normal level position; The invention will be clearlyund'erstood by reference to the following detail specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings-- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a trucker cage according to the present invention.

Fig, 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. v

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken through the receiving member in the end of the truck for receiving the ends of timbers.

Figs. 5 and 6 are front and side elevations re.- spectively of one form of locking means for looking the cage or truck in sliding -relation with guides carried in the shaft.

igl 7 is an enlarged detailed view of an alternative locking means.

Fig. 8 is. an enlarged detailed left hand view of the alternative locking mechanism shown in Fig. 7. J r

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of a section taken through a mine shaft and one of the levels below ground showing the manner in which the cage or truck may be transferred from ground v level to a'level below ina simple operation.

Referring to. the drawings, A. indicatesa preferredform of truck or cage according to the present invention which is made up of a suitable frame constructed and braced to carry given loads. In the illustration,the frame is made up generally of angle iron construction including a base ill made up of various cross bars, sides H and [2 connected by the cross bars It to form a body, the whole being mounted on the wheels l3 and I4 carried on transverse shafts l5 and I6, respectively, the latter shaft preferably being carried by the extensions ll of the bottom longitudinal beams of the frame. which project past the rear end of the frame.

In the rear end of the frame is positioned a receiver l8 which takes the form of aboX-like element having sheet iron sides and based preferably by a wooden platform I 9 (see Fig. 4) so that the ends of timbers introduced to the truck or cage will abut the platform l9 which, when the truck or cage is moving vertically upwardly or downwardly, becomes the base thereof. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 particularly, the timbers are designed to be mounted on cross members or a platform raised to the upper level of the wheels I 3 and M with their endsreceived in the receiver l8 and abutting the platform 19'. They are readily held in this position as illustrated in Fig. 3 by means of chains and timber shifts may also be used. By reason of the fact that the frame vAll is open at its forward end and the top, the timbers are readily placed in position in a very simple piling operation so that when loaded and secured, such as by the chain 23, the truck is ready to be transferred to the shaft and may be hauled by a suitable ball or the like 2| which is pivoted to the forward end of the frame.

The wheels l3 and N form the means of transporting the truck or cage on the level but as a means of conveniently transferring the cage from the level to the shaft, i. e., from a substantially horizontal position to a vertical position, we provide a pair of pilot wheels 22 which are carried on the rearward end of the frame by means of an auxiliary frame 23 composed of the downwardly sloped frame members 24 and upwardly sloped frame members 25 joined as at 26 at which point they are designed to journal a shaft 21 which carries the wheels 22. This positions the pilot wheels 22 at the end of the truck spaced upwardly from the normal level upon which the truck or cage will travel when not disposed in the shaft and the pilot wheels 22,then provide a cooperating setof, wheels, viz. the wheels l4 and 22 as a means for transferring the truck or cage from the level tracks to vertical position in the shaft. For instance, when the truck has been hauled or pushed along the ground level tracks to the mouth of the shaft, the clevis 28 of the bail 2| may be connected with a hook or other device 29 carried on the cable 30 of the mine shaft (see Fig. 9), and upon raising such cable the truck is pulled into the mine shaft moving first upon the wheels l4,,then upon the set of wheels l4 and 22, and finally upon the wheels 22 as the transition is made from the horizontal to the vertical position. This is done in a very smooth operation, .The truck or cage finally is vertically disposed in the shaft in this manner and then is ready to be lowered by the hoist.

The truck or cage is provided with suitable guideways made up of the longitudinally extending angle irons 3| which are positioned on the sides H of the truck. Preferably an angle iron having a wide base web 32 with a narrower angularly projecting flange or web is employed which, as shown in Fig. 3, is designed to engage the guides 34 disposed on each side ofthe shaft.

In order to lock the cage in this. position vertically disposed in the shaft, a suitablelocking means is required, one form of which may be as shown in the accompanying drawings comprising the transverse rods 35 which carry a projecting finger 36 intermediate their ends and at a point to substantially coincide with the edge 31 of the base web '32 which is opposite to that carrying the flange or web 33. One end of the rods 35 is suitably socketed inthe truck frame while the other end is providedwith a projecting finger 33 normally projecting at right angles to the finger 36. Thus, by rotating the pair of rods 35' such that the finger 38 lies parallel with the top angle iron of the frame where it may be engaged by a locking ring 39, the finger 36 is thus projected at right angles to the said frame and parallel to the flange or web 33 of the angle iron 3| as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. The finger 33 of each rod, therefore, becomes a means of locking the guideway 3| in captive sliding relation to the guides'34. Accordingly the cage or truck may be raised or lowered in the "shaft guided by the guides 34. An alternative form of locking means is disclosed in Figs. '7 and 8 wherein a horizontal shaft 40a is rotatably mounted along the lower which instead of having a continuous flange 33 may be provided at spaced apart intervals along its length with sectional flanges such as 4| and a raised guide plate Ma illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. The horizontal rotatable rod 40a is provided with a pair of projecting fingers 42 spaced apart substantially corresponding to the length of the sectional flange 4| and a guide plate 43 is secured to the fingers 42 so as to form the guide means on the opposite side of the guideway 3| to flank the sides of the guides 34- carried in the shaft. As shown particularly in Fig. 8 the guide plates 43 which may be positioned at spaced intervals along the shaft 40a opposite to the sectional flanges 4|, may be rotated by the rod 40a to guiding position or out of guiding position. The rod 40a may be locked in one position or the other by any suitable means.

In the case of lowering the cage, for instance, to lower level 40 when the lower end of the cage approximately reaches the level 40, the rods 35 may be released and rotated to move each finger 36 through so that they will then lie parallel to the guides 34 whereupon the cage may be swung outwardly so that the pilot wheels 22 engage the tracks on level 40 (or engage level 40 in the event that tracks are not employed) so that as the hoist lowers the cable 30, the cage will tend to slide in along level 40 or may be pulled during which movement the cage will ride first on the pilot wheels 22, then on the pilot wheels and wheels M, then on the wheels I4 alone, and finally will reach level to move on the set of wheels [3 and I l. The truck is then towed or pushed along level 40 to its final destination whereupon the timbers may be unloaded. As a result, therefore, there is only one loading and one unloading operation, viz., the loading on the upper level and unloading when the destination is reached on the lower level, in comparison with general practice of hauling the timbers to the mouth of the shaft, loading them with diificulty on a cage, unloading them from the cage at the level, reloading them to take them to their destination, and again unloading them.

It is apparent from the foregoing that we have provided a truck or cage, or what might be termed a combination truck and cage, which may be constructed as a simple structure and which will eliminate a great deal of unnecessary work in transferring material from one level to another in conjunction with a shaft. In this connection, it will be appreciated that material other than mine timbers maybe carried and that the truck or cage may be formed with solid walls if necessary to accommodate material which could not suitably be carriedin an open frame structure. Moreover, it will be apparent that while side of the guide 3| the invention has been illustrated in conjunction with a mine shaft, the shaft might be a superstructure such as in the case where the material is being moved upwardly and downwardly in large building structures and the like.

It should also be understood that while we prefer to employ a pair of pilot wheels to cooperate directlywith the adjacent truck wheels and operate in conjunction with tracks, the truck may be employed without necessarily operating it on tracks and a single pilot wheel might be employed as a transferring medium during the period of transition from vertical position to horizontal position, and vice versa.

What we claim as. our invention is:

V 1. A truck having a framework body normally disposed paralleljt'o the level upon which it travels and a receiving member disposed in one end of said truck at right angles to the normal plane of the base of said truck, said receiving member designed to support material therein, said truck having a'pair of pilot wheels, projecting beyond said receiver, at one end and spaced upwardly from "said level and engageable ,with said level when the truck is raised by its opposite end and disposed at an angle to said level, said receiving member forming thebase of the truck when in such latter position, means designed to connect said truck with a'lifting and lowering-device to raise and lower said truck in'said shaft at an angle to the level fo'rlnormal travel, said pilot wheels forming a means for facilitating travel of the to raising and lowering position from normal level position, guide members in said shaft, and guide means in connection with said truck lockable in and releasable from captive slidable relation with said guide members when said truck is in said shaft.

2. Means for raising or lowering material in shafts as claimed in claim 1 in which the means connected with said truck for looking or releasmg said truck to and from captive slidable relation with the said guide members comprises a rgid guide disposed on each side of said truck body having projecting means for engaging one side of said guide members, and swing-able means projectable in parallel relation with said projecting means to engage the opposite side of said guide members, said swingable means being swingable to and from projecting position.

3. Means for raising or lowering material in shafts as claimed in claim 1 in which the means connected with said truck for locking or releasing said truck to and from captive slidable relation with the said guide members comprises a rigid guide disposed on each side of said truck body having projecting means for engaging one side of said guide members, rotatable rods carried on each side of said truck having a projecting finger, the latter being swingable to a position parallel with said projecting means to engage the opposite side of said guide members, and means for locking said rods to maintain said finger in such projecting relationship.

4. Means for raising or lowering timbers in shafts and the like comprising a truck having a framework bod normally disposed parallel to a substantially horizontal level upon which it is designed to travel and having at least two pairs of wheels for causing it to travel on such level, said truck having a receiving membertat one end disposed at right angles to the level upon which said truck travels, and designed to receive the ends of said timbers, supporting means in the truck body for supporting the longitudinal dimension of said timbers, a pair of pilot wheels on the end of said truck projecting beyond said receiving member and disposed at a level higher than the level of said other wheels, said pilot wheels being engageable with said substantially horizontal level when said truck is raised by its opposite end and disposed at an angle to said level in said shaft, said receiving member becoming the base of said truck when it is disposed in said latter position, and means designed to connect said truck with a lifting and lowering device to raise and lower said truck in said shaft at an angle to the substantially horizontal level for normal travel, said pilot wheels forming a means for facilitating travel of the truck into and out of theshaft during its transition from substan tially horizontal position to substantially vertical position in said shaft andviceversa.

5. Means for raising or' lowering materials in shafts as claimed in claim 4 in'which the means designed to connect the truck with the lifting and lowering devices comprises a bail pivotally connected to one end of the truck and designed to connect with the cable of a hoist orthe like.

6. Means for raising or lowering material in shafts and the like comprising a truck having a body normally disposed parallel to the level upon which it travels and designed to receive material, a base for supporting said'ma'terialin said position, said truck'having a pilot wheel at one end spaced upwardly away from said level and engageable with said level when said truck is raised by its opposite end and disposed at an angle to said level, a base for supporting said material when in said latter position, and means designed to connect said truck with a lifting and lowering device to raise and lower said truck in said shaft at an angle to the level for normal travel, and means on said truck for guiding it during passage in said shaft, said pilot wheel forming a means for facilitating travel 'of the truck to raising and lowering position to and from normal level position.

7. Means for raising or lowering material as claimed in claim 6 in which guide means is provided on the truck to cooperate with guides disposed in said shaft, and means for locking and releasing said truck in and from captive slidable relation with said guides.

8. Means for raising or lowering material in shafts and the like comprising a truck having a body normally disposed parallel to the level upon which it travels and designed to receive material, a base for supporting said material in said position, said truck having at least three pair of wheels including two pair for causing said truck to travel in a substantially horizontal position, and a third pair, disposed at one end I and spaced upwardl from the plane of said other wheels, engageable with said level when said truck is raised by its opposite end and disposed at an angle to said level, a base for supporting said materials in said latter position, said pilot wheels and the next adjacent pair of said wheels cooperating during transition from substantially horizontal position to substantially vertical position to cause said truck to travel during said transition, and means designed to connect said truck with a lifting and lowering deviceto raise and lower said truck in said shaft, at an angle to the level for normal travel, and means on said truck for guiding it during passage in said shaft, said pilot wheels forming interim means for returning said truck to normal substantially horizontal position from said substantially vertical position.

9. Means for raising or lowering material in shafts and the like comprising a truck having a body normally disposed parallel to the level upon which it travels and designed to receive material, a base for supporting said material in said position, said truck having at least two pair of wheels for moving the truck along a substantially horizontal level, a framework projecting from one end of said truck, a pair of pilot wheels mounted on said framework at a level raised above the level of said other wheels, said pilot wheels being engageable with said substantially horizontal level when said truck is raised by its opposite end anddisposedat an angle to such level, a base for supporting said material when in said latter position, and means designed to connect said truck witha lifting and lowering device to raise and lower said truck in said shaft at an angle to the level for normal travel, and means on said truck for guiding it during passage on said shaft, said pilot wheels forming a means for facilitating travel of the truck to raising and lowering position from normal level position.

10. A truck having a framework body normally disposed parallel to the level upon which it travels, a base on said framework body for supporting said material in said position, a receiving member disposed in one end of said truck at right angles to the normal plane of the base of said truck, said receiving member designed to support material therein, said truck having a pair of pilot wheels projecting beyond said receiver at one end and spaced upwardly from said level, said pilot wheels being engageable with said level when the truck is raised by its opposite end and disposed at an angle to said level, said receiving member forming the base of the truck when in such latter position, and means designed to connect said truck with a lifting and lowering device to raise and lower said truck in said shaft at an angle to the level for normal travel, said pilot wheels forming a means for facilitating travel of the truck to raising and lowering position from normal level position.

EDMOND LAPOINTE.

ARTHUR EDWIN ZIMMERMAN.

ARTHUR ELMER ZIMMERMAN. 

